Hide and Seek
by Luaithreach
Summary: He was vaguely aware that his brother was standing over him, handing out orders and telling him to 'Stay with him'. But he was fully aware of the growing darkness. And then he wasn't aware of anything at all. T for Blood, Not Slash.
1. Chapter 1

Kili sighed. He was walking to the Throne Room. Thranduil's people had returned to demand their jewels again. They still held the Arkenstone, much to Thorin's chagrin.

Thorin was still suffering from the Dragon Sickness. It wasn't as strong as it had been before the war, but it was still there. And it was strengthening again. It was slowly consuming him from the inside out, as it had Thrain and Thror.

Fili would be there, at the negotiations, later. At the moment he was doing something... Kili couldn't quite remember what it was he was doing, he only remembered that it was important. Probably.

"Your Highness," the guards at the door said, bowing.

They then opened the doors to show Thorin sitting on his thrown. Thranduil and a collection of other elves, including his son, stood before him. The Arkenstone was kept in a box held by Legolas. Kili couldn't see the jewel itself, but he knew the contents of the box from the way the light came from it. Neither king, Thorin nor Thranduil, looked happy.

Kili walked up to the thrown and stood on his uncle's left.

Fili was standing beside him.

"You're early," Kili whispered to him.

"I'm not. You're late!" He hissed back.

"Helping Oin," Kili explained.

Fili nodded. After the war, Kili had taken an interest in healing, saying that it was a useful skill. His interest in fighting and being a warrior had suffered after the battle. He had seen a real war. He shouldn't have, he was still young, but he had.

"I should not have to bargain for what is rightfully ours!" Thorin exclaimed.

"What of the men of the Lake? You promised them gold. 'Enough to rebuild Esgaroth ten times over', if what Bard the Bowman said is true. And what of Dale? It was destroyed by the dragon, who was lured here by your gold. They, at least, deserve the gold you promised them. And us? Well, we have the Arkenstone. The heirloom of your house. What gives you the right to be king. And we will gladly return it for white gems."

Thorin gave no response. He just glared at the Elvenking.

"What is your price?" Fili asked.

Thranduil smiled at him. He looked back at Thorin. "This one seems to have more sense than you, 'King' Thorin. My price is a chest full of gems."

"No. Not a chest. A box. The same size as the box that Prince Legolas is holding."

"No. I asked for a chest. I will not take less than that."

"My offer is a box. No more."

"Very well. We can wait. We will return again soon. Perhaps you will be more agreeable then. If not, I suggest you let your nephew take care of the negotiations." And with that he left.

* * *

Despite how different the lives of the dwarves who had once been in the company had become, they were still close. They met frequently and discussed several things. They would talk about memories from their adventures or the war. They would also talk about more important matters, such as: Ori would discuss the libraries, Dwalin, the Kingdom's Army, Fili and Kili, the Royal Businesses, Oin, the healing rooms, Bofur, the mining industries, Gloin, the banking areas, so on and so for. It was a handy way for the two princes to collect information nd give it to their uncle, who no longer met with the rest of the company. He would stay in the treasury or retire early, claiming to suffer from headaches.

"How did the negotiations go?" Bofur asked.

Fili mumbled something about 'cursed blood' and 'dragon sickness'.

"Thranduil still has the Arkenstone," Kili explained. "Thranduil asked for a chest full of gems, Thorin said he would give no more than a box full. And he means a box this big." Kili held his hand about a foot apart.

"Ah. Don't worry, lads! Thorin'll pull through this! He's one of the strongest dwarves I've ever known."

"People said Thrain and Thror were strong, too," Fili pointed out.

"Aye. I'm sure they were. But I'm sure Thorin's stronger."

They proceeded to talk about the mines and how Dis and the other dwarves would soon arrive from Ered Luin.

* * *

Kili had retired to his rooms almost an hour ago. He sat on his snow-covered balcony, gazing up at the stars, recalling the conversations he and Tauriel had had about the stars.

_It is memory, precious and pure_, she had said. _I have walked up there sometimes. Beyond the forest and up in to the night. I have seen world fall away, and white light forever fill the air._

Her words kept running through his mind. He smiled. He took one last look at the stars before getting up and walking in to his room. He closed the doors quietly behind him and sat on his bed. It was dark in his room, there was a tiny fire burning in his hearth and there was only one candle lit. It stood on a little table beside his bed. He took off his boots and lay back on his bed. He blew out the candle and let the gentle crackle of the fire in the hearth put him to sleep.

The door opened. He didn't hear it squeak quietly as it was opened and closed over again, nor did he see the light flood in and die out again, he was too close to sleeping to actually notice them. But he did notice the squeaking sound of wet boots against the stone floor. He was about to sit up when there was a sharp pain in his chest. He jerked up, completely awake. His bed was wet. Wet with something hot and red. Blood. There was a dwarf standing over him. He wore a black cloak, hiding his clothes and his face. There was a knife in his hand.

* * *

A shout, a scream. Kili's scream. From Kili's room. Fili had been in his room, reading a book. The journal of one of his distant ancestors. Thorin had told him to read it. And he had been. And then there had been a scream and the book found itself being dropped to the floor while Fili dashed down the hall. He burst in to his brother's room to find the bed covered in blood and empty. Kili lay beside it, a scarlet red stain spreading across his chest. A knife was embedded in it.

* * *

Kili was vaguely aware of the door opening and people coming to see what had happened. He was vaguely aware that his brother was standing over him, handing out orders and telling him to '_Stay with him_'. But he was fully aware of the growing darkness. And then he wasn't aware of anything at all.

* * *

**So... A new fic. I know I have two already up and running but I wasn't in the mood for writing something for either and I wanted to write something anyways. So this is what my extremely tired mind came up with.**

** If I made any mistakes or contradictions, I blame it on going to bed at two in the morning, getting on a plane at seven in the evening, going to bed at eleven, getting up at 10.30 AM and not being able to sleep now, even though I'm exhausted. (That was spread out over three days.)**

**Review?**

**Luaith xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys! Thanks for the amazing feed back! I've never gotten so many reviews/favs/follows for a first chapter! Thanks guys!**

**And I forgot to put a disclaimer in the last chapter. So here it is:**

**Disclaimer: I have never, do not and will never own the Hobbit or any other book/movie etc.**

**Anyways... Enough of that, on with the chapter.**

* * *

Fili had never felt so helpless watching his brother bleed out before him. Kili, his brother, his shadow, his _nadadith_. His brother, who had been by his side for as long as he could remember. Dying.

"Somebody get Oin," he said. His voice sounded so distant, as if it weren't even him giving the orders. "And get some cloth too. I don't care if they're rags, just somebody get them! And get the king as well!"

He couldn't take his eyes off his brother. The blood that covered the bed, the floor and his chest was still gushing out of his chest. The light was slowly fading in his half-opened eyes. Fili knelt to his knees and took his brother's hand, not caring that there was a crimson stain on his tunic that was slowly blossoming upwards.

"Nadadith? Kili? Stay with me. It's alright, Oin and Uncle will be here in a minute. Stay with me!"

Kili's eyes closed slowly and his breathing became uneven.

The next few minutes were a blur for Fili. He couldn't remember much afterwards. He watched as everyone else was ushered out of Kili's room while someone dumped a pile of rags on the bed. Fili himself had been directed to a corner, where he couldn't get in the healers' way. He was torn between staying with his brother and going to fetch Thorin, seeing as apparently nobody else had. But, he couldn't _leave _Kili, he knew that. Kili would never have left him. Kili would have done the farthest thing from leaving, he would have helped in any way, no matter what the task was.

There was a sharp _clang _as Oin dropped a blood-covered blade and it bounced against the cold stone floor.

"Prince Fili, are you all right? Is there anything I can do for you?"

Fili turned and saw Friea, one of the healers. Back in Ered Luin he had known her as a the daughter of a friend of his mother's. He didn't know her very well.

"My uncle." He couldn't think of anything else, besides his dying brother.

"Would you like someone to bring him here?" She asked.

He nodded.

* * *

"What?" Thorin snapped. He did not take kindly to people who woke him at the most ungodly hours of the night. Except it had been two hours since sunset. In winter. But he had thought it was much later.

"Prince Fili asked me to get you. Prince Kili... He's..." The young girl said. Her red hair was everywhere, her blue eyes wide. Thorin recognised her. The daughter of one of Dis's friends, or something like that.

"What about Kili?"

"He's... Dying."

"Where?"

"In his room. Prince Fili requested that you be there."

Thorin didn't wait to hear the rest of what Friea had to say, he was already halfway down the dark hall by the time she had finished talking.

* * *

"Uncle! Thank Mahal you're here! Kili-"

"What happened to him?"

"I don't know. Nobody does. I heard a shout coming from in here and I found him lying on the floor, with a knife in his chest. And, oh, the blood it's everywhere."

"A knife? But... How did anyone get in then? Weren't there guards outside?"

"Not when I got here, they were already inside, seeing what had happened," Fili replied.

"Hmm."

* * *

Kili slowly faded in to consciousness. The first thing he was aware of was the fact that his chest hurt. Then there were people talking. And then there was light. Candle light and fire light. He was on his bed. Oin was examining him and Fili and Thorin were standing by the fire place, deep in conversation.

"He's awake," Oin said.

Fili was by his side almost immediately. "Don't do that again! You half scared me to death!" He scolded. He paused. His face softened. "What happened, Nadadith?"

"Well, I would have thought it was obvious." Kili said what he said next as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which it was. "Someone wanted me dead."

"We guessed that," Thorin admitted.

"But who? And why?" The blond turned to his brother. "What happened?"

"I was almost asleep and then someone stabbed me. I don't know who it was, they wore a black cloak to cover their clothes and face. Their boots were wet, they made a squeaking sound on the floor. And then they... I don't know what happened to them. I know that Fili arrived and then it went dark." He paused. "They said something."

"What did they say?" Thorin asked.

Kili frowned. "They said that they would kill you two."

* * *

**Ok. Sorry the chapter was kind of short.**

** So, I don't know how long this fic will be (probably not too long) so I'll probably finish this one before going back to Mirror Mirror and Betrayed. Still not in the mood to write for either of them. I have a good reason for not updating Mirror Mirror at the moment, do you want to hear it? I've been reading the Mortal Instruments series, rather than Michael Grant books. Michael Grant books make me a sort of sadistic person. For a week or so, then it starts to fade. Don't judge me on that. I'm usually quite happy and friendly (and only talk about the fandoms I'm in to *Cough-Hobbit, LOTR, Star Wars, Gone, BZRK, Mortal Instruments, The Hunger Games-Cough-Mostly The Hobbit and LOTR-Cough*). :P You can probably tell roughly how old I am from that.**

**Just a note: Friea is my own character (obviously. Dis was the only named female dwarf) and her name is to be pronounced Free-ah. Tolkien based the dwarves' names after norse gods (at least that's what Wikipedia told me) so the name 'Friea' is based off of the Norse goddess Freyja.**

**And I know that in the last chapter they were waiting for the other dwarves from Ered Luin to arrive. Friea and some others (healers/guards/cooks etc.) left Ered Luin before the rest, therefore arrived before the rest.**

**So... Yeah, that's it. Thanks again for all the review/favs/follows, they mean so much to me.**

**Ok. I'm just rambling now so I'm going to blame tiredness and say thanks. ****Thanks!**

**Ok. I'm done now.**

**Luaith xxx**


End file.
